Wednesday, 12 October 2011

The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter (review copy) - It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall. Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests. Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess. From Amazon US

I am so intrigued by Greek myths that when I picked up The Goddess Test, I was excited to read about lots of gods and godly events and general excitement. Unfotunately, I was disappointed. This isn't to say I didn't like the book. I did, I really enjoyed it. But there could have been so much more!

I was expecting perilous quests and lots of action when it came to the tests. However, the tests Kate has to take may happen without her knowing, so the reader doesn't know about them either. Very few gods make an appearance too. Most of the book is just Kate spending time in the Henry's Manor, making friends, learning about the Greek myths, and spending time with Henry.

The book is quite short, and so Kate's time at the manor flies by, weeks, sometimes months going by with nothing major happening, but I would still liked ot have read more of the time Kate spends with her friends and Henry, seeing the friendships grow better. I would especially have liked more development of Kate and Henry's relationship. I just didn't find the feelings between them believeable. It all just happened too quick for me - although weeks were going by for Kate, it was only a few pages for me. I would have liked things to have been slower, and believed it.

I did enjoy it though, as I said, and with the ending, I think there is a lot of potential for this series to be really good. I think the parts that feel lacking to me just have to be put down to it being a first book in a series, and it's setting everything up. Goddess Interupted, the sequel, sounds brilliant, and I'm really looking forward to reading it! All in all, not a bad book.

3 comments:

Thanks for the review! I'm excited for Goddess Interrupted, too. It's been a while since I read The Goddess Test, so I don't quite remember all the things you talked about, but I think you're right that it's just a result of being the first book in a series.